Fish-decoy bait



G. W. WHEELER.

FISH DECOY BAIT.

APPLICATION FILED OCT. 10, 1919.

1,391,030. PatentedSept. 20, 1921.

65mm: 1 14 n flza 3.

UNITED 1. mm

PATE T OFFICE.

GEORGE WASHINGTON WHEELER; or amer, ONTARIO, CANADA.

'FISH-DECOY BAIT.

tario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin F ish-Deco'y Baits, of' which the following is the spec1- fication. A

My invention relatesi to improvements in fish decoy baitsand the object of theinvention 1s todevise means-for catching the fish":

' p1latg922 is provided with a longitudinal s ot V which is automatically operated by the fish whenseizing the baitin his mouth and it consistsessentially of the arrangement and' construction of parts hereinafter more. particularlyexplained.v

which is in-the sh'ap'e of a small fish and is Figure 1, 1s a perspective viewot a decoy fishb'ait and my fish'catching device applied thereto. r

Fig. 2, is a longitudinal section through Fig.1.

Fig. '3, is an inverte device as shown in F 1;

Fig. 4, is a cross-sectlonalview on line;

4r4,"Fig. 2., Fig. 5, is a cross sect onal;view on l ne 5-5, Fig. 2.

In the drawings l-ike characters'of refer ence indicate the'vario'us parts in each figure. 1 indicates the body iof my':fish decoy provided with the usual tail piece'2 andfins 3 and4." The under face of the bodyl isf provided withfrectangularrecesses 5 and 6. located-in the c'entral portion of the'body and recesses 7i'and 8 which. are located in proximity to each end' of th'e body.'-Between thereces'ses 7 and 8 islocated'a plate j 9 which 'is counter sunk 'in the under face of the body 1 and is secured in POSItIOILby screws 10'. 11 and 12 are orifices which are" formed in the plate 9 opposite each recess 5 and 6. 18 is a spring which is located in the recess 5 and'is formed in two coils 14 and 15 which. are-preferably connected atitheirn inner ends by the crosswire portlon 16; The

outerends of the:.coil areformed intofirige-rs 17 and '18 for a after appear.

19 is a similarly formed spring located in the recess 16 theyouter ends ofEthe spring being formed into arms 20 'and- 21. It will be noticed on referring to Fig. 5 that the outer portions of the spring coils 14 and 15 extend through the orifices 11 and 12 in the plate 9. 22 is a plate which is secured plan view of the lineposition indicated in Fig. 1. I 7

Having described the 'prlncipal jparts'of my inv'enti'on I will now briefly describe the Y operation of the same.

purpose which will herein- Application filed October 10, 19 19. Seri a1 No .32l,847.

to the body-of the decoy by screws 23a1id 24flwhich extend through the plate 22-and plate 9 'l'ntothe body of the-decoy; 25 and 26 arescrews which" secure the ends'o f the plate'22 tothe body ofthe decoy. 27 an'd" 28 are plns whlch are secured at their'outer ends in the plate 22 and extend centrally I through the colls 14 and 15 into the bodyl of th edeeo as clearly indicatedin g- Similarly pins 27" and 28"-'extend centrally through the coils of the spring 19.; The

30 and '31 are fish hooks which are provided with extended shanks 32 -a'nd 33 ter-' .-m1nat1ng ineyes 34 and 35 which are swung u on- 5111927 and"2i8 The shanks 32 and 33 of thejh'ooksg30 and 31 are provided with loops-36 and '37; through which'the ends of vthe arms 20; and 21 freely extend." 38 and ,39 are fish-hooks constructed similarlytothefish hooks 30 and 31fand are provided at their'inlier ends with eyes which are 'swung uponpins 27 and 28. Rolf the hooks" 38' and- 39a're also .provided with loops'36 and 37 corresponding to the The shanks 17 and 18'ext endi I a .40 1s a pressure-member which islocated 1n the longitudinal slot 29 and protrudes loops 36 and37 'and'through which the arms downwardly therefronii T 41 and 4am up 'wardly 1 extending. l projections formed A at T each'end otthepressu're plate 40. The projections 41' and '42 extendup in the recesses 7 and= 8, Each projection 41 and42 is provided with a cross arm 43 each of which are'provid'ed at their ends ontheir under side with notches 44 and 45 through'which the; shanks of the fish hooks 30 and 31' and 38 and39 extend when in the set position shown particularly in Fig. 3 and-"in the full VVhen'the hooks 30-, 31,38and39' are in the dottedposition shown in Fig. 1, the springs 13 and19 are out-of tension. -In order to' set' the' device the pressure member '40' is first forced upwardly'so' asto carry the cross arms 43"into the recesses 7 'and'8. The

shanks 32 and33 are then swung from the dotted position inwardly toward the side of the decoy and into a substantially parallel position between the plates 9 and 22. By

this operation the arms 20 and 21 "are swung" the bait he attempts to graspthe center portion of the bait in his month. By mygdevice whenv thefish attempts to do this he around with the hooks so that thecoils of the spring 13'are tightened exerting tension upon the arms and 21 tendingto force them outward from the position shown in full lines in Fig. lfto the position shown in dotted lines. I 1 7' When the'hooks are carried-into the'position indicated by full lines thepressure bar I 40 isdrawn downward against the plate 22 so as to carry the notches 44 and 45- into engagement withthe shanks 32. and 38 of the .hooks 30 and 31 thereby locking the hooks in position. I Thesame operation then takes place in connection with the hooks 38 and 39. The; device then is arranged as indicatedin Fig, 3.

It' will, of course,

as indicated by 50 .in Fig; 1. 'v

It is well known that when a fish seizes exertsa pressure upon the pressure bar 40 forcing it upwardtoward the under face of the'decoy. body therebyfreleasing the hooks 30 and 31 and 38 and 89 which are then carried swiftly into the position indicated by dotted lines in Fig, 1. The hooks coming together in the manner described (angage the body of the fish and inv the act of,

pulling away from the bait. more securely fastens the fish hook in to itsbody.

7 From this description it will be seen that I have devised a very simple mechanism whereby the fish isautomatically caught when seizing the decoy bait in its mouth.

What I claim as my inventionis:

1. In a, decoy fish bait, a bait body, opposing gripping meanscarried by the bait body, means for holding-the gripping means in their normal position, andj releasing means' adapted to be operated bythe jaws of. the

fish'when in a position at right angles to the center portion of the baitbodyQ 2. In a decoy fish bait, the-combination with the body thereof of opposing fish catch- 7 ing, means carried by the bodyland extend inglongitudinally of thevbody and adapted to move when freed toward eachother and against each, side of thebody of the ffish,

' r and a. yieldable pressure member for re-' 7 leasably holding the fishcatchingm'eans in I the normal" position.

3. In a decoy fish bait, the combination with the bait body, of a yieldable member carried by the bait body and adapted to be 7 depressedby the jaws of the fish closing upon the .body, opposing fish engaging prongs, resilient means for forcing the be understood that the fish decoy isconnected to the usual tow line prongs toward'each other and against the ody of the fish and means carried by the.

bait, the combination I of its-longitudinal center, resilient means. tending to swing the fish'hooks from a position in longitudinal alinement with'the'de-v 1 coy bait body'to'a position at right angles to the decoy. bait body, means extending lon-- gitudinally of thedecoy body andprotrud V .the hooks in their longitudinal alined .position a ainst the ,resllient pressure, and .means or releasing such locking means oping from the face of the body for locking .erated by the' grippingof:v the decoyvinv the jaws of thefish. 1

5. In a decoy fish bait, the combination I withthe decoy body, of ailongitudinally slotted plate secured to the, lower face of. the decoy bait body ;-and spacedapart there,

from} a pairi of fish hook-members swung between the plate and the decoy bait body at each side of suchlongitudinalslot and at each side of the central portion of the decoy, resilient means tending to'carry the hooks from a positionin longltudina'l alinement with the fish decoy bait body'to a .po- ,sition' at right'angles to the fish decoybait ,body, a yieldable bar r'nounted in-thelon; V gitudinal slotof the plate, crossiarms at eachoend of the pressure barhayirig notches ,in their. under side-adapted to -enga ethe fish hooks intermediately :of 'their e'ngthand hold them in the setposition against ,thevspring'tension; a

- 6.l In a decoy fish bait, the. estimate o a body vportion and opposing "fish catching:

means carried bythebody portion and movtherebetween, of releasable means normally able toward each other to entrap a fish'1 05 sepalaatingjsaid catching meansadapted to be released by the seizureofzithe body por tion inthe mouth ofithe fish. v

7. In adecoy fish bait, a body portion and hooks at each end of'the' body portion and awa .from the hooks on the-oppositeside on opposite vsidesthereof, releasable means" normally tendlng to move the end hooks on each slde ofthe body toward eachother-and of t e body, and releasable "means for'nor- .7

mally holding the hooks against such movement. 5

ro ser}wismNercuwimrma I 

